Boston Market's COO, Dave Thomas, offers this rallying call to the restaurant industry: your guests are your most valuable assets, and the single most important factor in continued success. Thomas will motivate audience members to place the focus squarely on their customers, and demonstrate how this approach will have a beneficial and profitable impact throughout the business.

Hospitality has long been thought of as the last frontier for self-service. This tide may be turning, however, as a growing number of QSRs experiment with kiosk technology. Hear first-hand from a leading operator about how kiosks have helped the operator empower its customers, boost service and feed its bottom-line.

Attendee ROI:

Choosing the ideal kiosk location

Applications: to customize or not to customize?

Staffing: how should the operator redeploy?

1-B: "Knowledge is Power: The Benefits of Business Intelligence"[Amazon O-Q]

Speaker: Alan Stukalsky - CIO, Church’s Chicken

The key to making effective business decisions rests in having comprehensive knowledge of all factors that affect the business, including customers, competitors, business partners, the economic environment, internal operations and beyond. Learn the top factors that should be monitored for greater restaurant business intelligence, and how effective use of that intelligence can help anticipate customer demand.

This session explores the role IT plays in a franchise setting. As the smaller, often more nimble versions of their corporate counterparts, franchised locations are often able to test and experiment with cutting-edge IT solutions, helping to pave the way for corporate adoption. At the same time, the franchisee-franchisor relationship calls for unique systems that facilitate communication, visibility and interoperability. The director of franchise systems at YUM! discusses the role IT plays for YUM! and its franchise partners, and shares insights for successful IT partnering.

Attendee ROI:

Approaches to successful IT collaborations between franchisors and franchisees

Communication networking between inter-operations

The core differences between IT implementation at corporate versus franchise level

What's in your data warehouse? This repository of informational assets should represent the single point of truth for your operation the sole historical register of virtually all transactions and important operational events that occur in the life of the business. Learn the foundational elements of a data warehouse and what data should be flowing into that warehouse from the POS to financial reports and more.

Attendee ROI:

What are the layers or components of a data warehouse?

Is there such a thing as too much information?

How to build your warehouse so you can quickly acess the data you need

If cash is king, plastic is president, elected by popular opinion. Since credit and debit cards are a preferred method of payment for many consumers, operators must respond with the ability to accept such payments. Here, a panel discussion reveals the best practices for credit/debit acceptance, from the time the card is presented for payment, until the funds transfer is complete.

Attendee ROI:

The high cost of not protecting your customers and yourself

How to choose a merchant

Keeping rates reasonable

2:40 - 3:30 pm

General Session #2 [Amazon G (enter at H)]

"ENHANCING THE APPEAL OF YOUR CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAM"

Speaker: Regina Jerome - Director of IT, Avado Brands, Inc.

It's far more effective and profitable for restaurants to keep loyal customers than to continuously search for new ones. Through effective customer relationship management and worthwhile loyalty programs, restaurants can keep guests coming back for more. Get insights into one leading operator's cutting-edge loyalty program, and how it keeps its best customers.

This session will delve into wireless, and how the top trends in that space are impacting restaurant operators, from portable point-of-sale technology to connectivity for patrons. A panel of operators will share their insights into where wireless comes into play in their businesses.

In any business, information technology can and should play a pivotal role in long-term growth. When used most effectively, it should also offer the business a marked competitive advantage. The CIO of YUM! International discusses how a technology focus is instrumental in staying ahead of the curve, and how it has allowed his company to spot trends and capitalize on sales opportunities faster.

Learn how Darden Restaurants is implementing an enterprise management system (EMS) strategy to deliver top line business value and bottom line results. Darden will describe how the strategy is being used to manage their in-restaurant architecture, including their POS and server platforms that are being deployed to Darden restaurants nationwide.

Attendee ROI

Understanding the role of enterprise management in the hospitality industry

Core elements of developing an EMS implementation strategy

The systems and solutions that should be monitored via an EMS system.

11:35 - 12:25 pm

Closing Keynote [Amazon G (enter at H)]

"The Economy and The Industry"

Speaker: Robert Ebbin - Senior Director of Research Products, National Restaurant Association

Rob Ebbin of the National Restaurant Association discusses how current trends, from public perception to real-world issues, are impacting the restaurant industry. Also, get insights into what's to come — near and short term — and how to prepare. This session will include Q&A.